While learning about Martin Luther in the movie we have been watching this week in class, the idea of indulgences came up. Indulgences were sold during the reformation era by the Catholic church. The sole purpose of indulgences were to basically be a way to "buy" your way into heaven. By buying an indulgence you were guaranteed by the mercy of God to be saved and have a spot in heaven. But naturally it is going to cost you a pretty penny. Salvation doesn't come cheap! As we learned in the movie, Martin Luther opposed what the Catholic Church was corruptly selling as a ticket into heaven. He even put this objection into his 95 Thesis where he also criticized other points the Catholic Church were doing. The photo to the left of this text is an indulgence from 1516 signed by Pope Leo X himself.
Wow, it is really cool that you actually found a photo of an original indulgence from Pope Leo X. I wonder if all the indulgences looked that nice with the paintings and the little pendants... It probably depended on the price one was willing to pay. Do you know for what the pendants stand for? Does the amount of them (six for this example) means something?
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